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From:	Hans-Bernhard Broeker <broeker AT physik DOT rwth-aachen DOT de>
Newsgroups:	comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject:	Re: files > 4GB There is always a solution
Date:	24 Feb 2005 10:02:00 GMT
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Sterten AT aol DOT com wrote:

> From DOS-programming, I remember there were some interrupts with
> parameters.  Isn't it similar with NTFS ?

You assume there's a choice between "DOS programming" and "NTFS".
Well, there isn't.  One is a programming platform, the other is a
*file system*.  The two have next to nothing to do with each other.
It's none of a DOS program's business to even *know* if a given drive
letter is FAT16, FAT32 or NTFS.

> Shouldn't it be possible to just change some parameters to handle
> big files correctly ? Why is it so difficult ?

Because we're writing DOS programs, so we can only access the system
(safely) through the API that DOS offers us.  And that API simply has
no way of keeping track where it is, in a 4GB file.  In other words:
pretty much *no* DOS program will ever be able to work with 4GB files,
and that's that.

-- 
Hans-Bernhard Broeker (broeker AT physik DOT rwth-aachen DOT de)
Even if all the snow were burnt, ashes would remain.

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